Bingen street to get new bridge soon

Company from Amboy apparent low bidder

After opening five bid packages last week, a company from Amboy, a community in northeastern Clark County, is the apparent low bidder in a project that will replace the Jefferson Street bridge deck.

Spring Hill Construction submitted a low bid of $20,471 to handle the work, which entails casting concrete to make a prefab deck for the bridge, which crosses over Dry Creek in Bingen. When the new deck is ready, the old deck will be removed and the new one will be put into place on the existing abutments.

"It's not a totally new bridge," explained Bingen Mayor Brian Prigel.

According to Prigel, the city had estimated a price tag of between $10,000-$15,000. Despite the higher price of the low bid, Prigel said he did not believe the City Council would balk.

"It's a little bit higher than we expected, but I don't expect we'll turn them down based on that," Prigel said. "We'll call them and let them know they're the low bidder. But it's not official until all the paperwork is in and signed."

The highest of the five bids came from James Dean Construction of Glenwood, which estimated it would cost $34,561 to do the job.

The bridge that will be replaced was built in 1957, but the decking itself has been replaced since then. Terry Trantow, a member of the City Council, said he believed the last time a new deck was installed was at least 10 years ago. The existing deck is made of wood planks.

Safety concerns about the old deck were raised by council members back in July. Those using the bridge reported that the planks in the deck were loose and spikes had come up and were sticking out of the wood.

Prigel said once the bid is awarded, he hopes the company can start within two weeks. It could take as long as 30 days to complete the project.

"Once they cast the concrete, it needs to sit for up to 30 days before it can handle the weight of the vehicles using the bridge," Prigel said. "I hope it goes smoothly, and hope we get the bridge done before winter set in."

The money for the bridge will come primarily out of the city's street fund.